Stage Fright

Description

The third Band album reflected the groups response to the critical and popular success of their first two albums. Several selections, notably the title track, articulate the sense of disquiet and panic resulting from fame, life on the road, and tensions within the band. The set still offered the quintets mesmerising cross-section of American musicsoul, country R&B and popbut where previous releases took a largely historical perspective, this collection was contemporary and confessional. The ribald, carnival atmosphere of W.S. Walcott Medicine Show reads as an ironic comment on showmanship, while songwriter Robbie Robertson sculpts a chilling portrait of personal and national disillusionment in the early 70s. From its startling title and emblazoned rainbow cover art to the intense, personal, and sometimes unsettling music within, STAGE FRIGHT showed a new side of the Band, one that deepened their collective voice and their unassailable air of authenticity.